The Preparation of the Seder and the Passover Meal

The Seder Dish is arranged as shown. (It should be noted, however, that there are other customs, too, and as in all such matters, each family should follow its own faithful tradition.) The Seder Dish consists of the following:

• זְרוֹעַ (Zeroa) — usually a roasted shank-bone with some meat on it: In remembrance of the קָרְבַּן פֶּסַח (the Pascal Lamb) which also was roasted. It is called "זְרוֹעַ" in reference to our redemption from Egypt by הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא which was "בִּזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה" (“with an outstretched arm” meaning, in full public sight of the world). To be eaten on Yom Tov, but only during daytime.
• בֵּיצָה (Beitzah) — a hard-boiled egg (some have the custom to roast it in its shell, too): In remembrance of the special קָרְבַּן חֲגִיגָה (the חֲגִיגַת אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר of the 14th of Nissan) brought by the people together with the קָרְבַּן פֶּסַח in the time of the Beis HaMikdash. A hard-boiled egg is used rather than a piece of meat or some other foodstuff because an egg is usually a main component part of the mourner’s meal on his return from the cemetery and in this context it symbolises our mourning for the still-not-rebuilt Beis HaMikdash. An egg on our Seder Plate also recalls, בְּרֶמֶז, that the night of the coming Tisha b’Av will be the same night of the week as is this first night of Pessach, that is, לֵיל תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב חָל בְּאֶמֶשׁ שֶׁל פֶּסַח. Taken all together, then, this item on our Seder Dish reminds us that even at our happiest moments we are to remember that our Beis HaMikdash was destroyed and to better our ways so that it should be rebuilt.
• מָרוֹר (Morror) — bitter herbs (grated horseradish): bitter or sharp in taste and, by similarity of words and association of ideas (in Hebrew and, incidentally, also in English) recalling the bitter experience of our life in Egypt where the Egyptians enslaved us and afflicted us and embittered our lives.
• חֲרֹסֶת (Charosses) — a mixture of finely ground-up nuts and almonds, grated apple, broken cinnamon sticks and a little red wine: to resemble the mortar we used in Egypt.
• כַּרְפַּס (Karpas) — radish, celery, parsley, boiled potato, or other vegetable. At the prescribed place in the Seder, the כַּרְפַּס is eaten after being dipped into the salt-water, as an appetizer: symbol of riches and free men. (On Pessach every man in Israel is like a king.) The salt-water (reminiscent of our tears under our suffering in Egypt) if made on Yom Tov itself (or Shabbos) should be made with a slight variation to the usual way of making it on weekdays.
• חֲזֶרֶת (Chazeret) — lettuce. Used as מָרוֹר when making the Matzoh-and-Morror sandwich as Hillel the Elder did. When chewed a long time, the green leaves of lettuce gradually taste more and more bitter. So, too, our slavery in Egypt started-off with our working for a wage, then the wage was diminished and the work was increased, and at the end we were forced to work even harder still for no payment at all. (Utmost care must be taken to wash, rinse and then search the lettuce leaves to ensure that there are no insects or flies hidden in the folds of the lettuce leaves and the same applies to the parsley that some use for כַּרְפַּס, too.)

25. In addition to the Seder Dish, the Yom Tov table should be laid with the best and most valuable tableware possible.

26. Three perfect Matzos are arranged one on top of the other in the place of the master of the house (traditionally under the Seder Dish) and each person present has his own cup from which to drink the Four Cups of wine during the Seder (symbolizing the four expressions of deliverance as promised to us by הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא). The Fifth Cup, the כּוֹס שֶׁל אֵלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא, is placed in the centre of the table and is filled at the prescribed time. Red wine should be used as it is considered more fitting for the Mitzvah, but he who cannot drink four cups of wine may fulfil the Mitzvah with grape-juice or a mixture of wine and grape-juice.

27. The custom prevails that everyone has his cup filled for him by someone else (and he, in turn, fills the cup of another man, too) for, as mentioned previously, at the Pessach Seder every man is like a king, and a king is served upon by others.

28. To fulfil the Mitzvah of Matzoh one has to eat Matzoh equivalent to the size of an olive within four minutes, and likewise Morror — made up of lettuce and grated horseradish — the equivalent of the volume of an olive within four minutes. Otherwise one has not discharged one’s obligation of these Mitzvos. The whole meal (with the exception of the Morror) is eaten while comfortably leaning to the left, which is the way free men lean (in a manner that is perhaps best described as “relaxed in a respectful slouch”). Even a son at his father’s table is allowed to do so even without asking his permission but a pupil in his Torah-teacher’s presence may not lean until he has the permission of his teacher.

29. The four Mitzvos of the Seder Night, namely: (1) eating Matzoh; (2) eating Morror; (3) drinking the Four Cups of wine and (4) recounting and talking about our redemption from Egypt, are as much incumbent upon women as upon men. One should make sure before Yom Tov that there is enough wine and Matzos for all the participants in the Seder and each participant should have his or her own Haggadah. If some of the participants at the Seder do not understand Hebrew, then those parts of the Haggadah which describe our slavery in Egypt and our redemption should be read aloud in English as well as in Hebrew. (The various Brochos of the Mitzvos of the Seder, however, must be said in לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ.) It is earnestly recommended that the Haggaddos used at the Seder should have a reliable and faithful translation and also that the directions and explanations provided concerning the various activities and procedures at the Seder should be correct and clearly explained.